Monday, April 30, 2012

I just love to take a morning walk through the garden's here at The Cottage. Many plant's are beginning to bloom and the aroma of the garden is divine. I invite you to take a walk with me this morning, bring your coffee and we will get started.

Blackberries Are Loaded with Beautiful Blooms

Tomato Bushes are Blooming

The Wild Chives Are Everywhere

The Collard's are Beautiful

Sage Smells So Good

Japanese Maple Made It Through The Drought of 2011

The Climbing Don Juan Heirloom Roses are Just Beautiful

In Full Bloom The Beautiful Magnolia's

I sure hope that you enjoy the walk through the gardens with me this morning. I just love it when you can stop by for a visit and sure hope you come back soon!

Friday, April 27, 2012

It has been very sad here at The Cottage, we lost our beloved Jaque this past week. He was with us for 12 1/2 years and was a member of our family, we will miss him. Spring is a time of renewal of life so we are given the hope that we will see him again at The Rainbow Bridge. Come on to the back porch and sit with me and we will talk about next week's menu, sounds like it might be time for some good comfort food.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! I am so happy to see you today, you got here just in time we are heading to The Garden Gate to tour the new vegetable plantings and the yummy vegetable dishes that we will be making this spring and summer. We are definitely seasonal food lovers here at the cottage and I know that some of you are as well. I can't wait to see what you have in your basket to share today, so lets get started. Thank you so much for coming to Full Plate Thursday and sharing your wonderful food with all of us!

I am adding a New Feature for the Spring and Summer that I think you will enjoy and I know I will.

When
we were young and just
starting out in life sometimes we did not have a
lot of money. Most of our friends were
having to stretch the dollars
at the end of the month just like us. My
girlfriends and I decided that we
would pool our food for some of the
evening meals right before payday...
the last week of the month. I have some
of the fondest memories from those
days. We would all bring our food
together and we had some great food and
great fellowship. We would get the
food on the table and everything ready,
someone would bless the food and
then the hostess would say "come fill your
plate".
I have just a few suggestions before you leave your dish and fill your plate.

Link directly to YOUR RECIPE and not to your web page.

Scroll down to the button that says "click here to enter"

You
will be asked to give your
URL ( which will be your direct link to your
post), the name of your recipe, and
your email which we will not be able to
see.

Then you will be asked to select a thumbnail from your post that will be uploaded to your entry.

Please include a link back to Full Plate Thursday, somewhere on your post. We will give you a gentle reminder if you forget...

Please leave me a comment before you leave the page and let me know that you are here, I want to be a good hostess.

Don't
forget to visit with all
the others, after all that is part of the
fellowship that makes it so much fun,
in addition to all the good food of
course...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

We grow Bell Peppers in our garden every year and one of the ways we enjoy the Bell Pepper is stuffed, we just love Stuffed Peppers. When we have an abundance of peppers in the summer we will make up several Stuffed Peppers and freeze them, it is great to have that much of the meal already prepared. If you follow along with this blog you may have noticed that Stuffed Peppers are often times on my menu, "What's For Dinner Next Week". I have had several request for my Stuffed Pepper recipe so today I am happy to share it with you.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

Miz Helen's Kitchen

The Stuffed Peppers

4 large Bell Peppers, washed, cut in half and seeded

1 1/2 pounds ground chuck ( we are very fortunate to have grass fed beef)

Stuff each half of the pepper with the meat mixture. Place the Stuffed Pepper into a baking dish and pour 1 1/2 cups water into the bottom of the dish.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

Remove the peppers from the oven, uncover and spread the sauce on the peppers

The Sauce

1 1/2 cups tomato paste

1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

3/4 cup Honey

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Mix all the above ingredients together until desired consistency

Spread on top of peppers

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Enjoy!

Bake Covered For 1 Hour

Prepare The Sauce

Bake Uncovered 30 Minutes

Enjoy!

I am so happy that you stopped by to have these Stuffed Peppers with us today. If you have a space grow your own Bell Peppers, they taste so good. You can even grow them in a pot on your patio, it will be fun to watch them grow. Hope you have a wonderful week and come back to see us real soon!

Friday, April 20, 2012

I was having my morning coffee on the back porch today and I had the best surprise, our first humming bird of the season came to visit. We really enjoy our humming birds, they are always so fascinating to watch and we are so excited when the first visitor comes to our Cottage in the spring. Come on back to the porch with me and have some coffee and coffee cake, then we will watch for the humming birds to come back. I am planning next weeks menu and you can give me some suggestions.

I sure am glad that you were able to stop by and have coffee with me this morning and I am so happy that you got to help me welcome the hummingbird's for this season. Your visits are always very important to so come back soon!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I am so excited to see you today and Welcome to Full Plate Thursday! Come on back to the Garden area we are having our party out near the Herb Garden today, some of the herbs are in full bloom and they smell so good. We have some nice herbed tea both hot and cold, it is very refreshing and I just know that someone will bring just the perfect treat to go with the tea. I can't wait to see what you have in your basket today so lets get right to it. Thank you so much for coming today your visit is always special to me!

When
we were young and just
starting out in life sometimes we did not have a
lot of money. Most of our friends were
having to stretch the dollars
at the end of the month just like us. My
girlfriends and I decided that we
would pool our food for some of the
evening meals right before payday...
the last week of the month. I have some
of the fondest memories from those
days. We would all bring our food
together and we had some great food and
great fellowship. We would get the
food on the table and everything ready,
someone would bless the food and
then the hostess would say "come fill your
plate".
I have just a few suggestions before you leave your dish and fill your plate.

Link directly to YOUR RECIPE and not to your web page.

Scroll down to the button that says "click here to enter"

You
will be asked to give your
URL ( which will be your direct link to your
post), the name of your recipe, and
your email which we will not be able to
see.

Then you will be asked to select a thumbnail from your post that will be uploaded to your entry.

Please include a link back to Full Plate Thursday, somewhere on your post. We will give you a gentle reminder if you forget...

Please leave me a comment before you leave the page and let me know that you are here, I want to be a good hostess.

Don't
forget to visit with all
the others, after all that is part of the
fellowship that makes it so much fun,
in addition to all the good food of
course...

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Aunt Bluette is a southern character in Michael Lee West new Novel "A Teeny Bit of Trouble". I have made this Spicy Peach Shortcake because it is a dish that I think Aunt Bluette may have made and really enjoyed serving to all her southern friends and family.

Aunt Bluette's Spicy Peach Shortcake

Aunt Bluette's Spicy Peach ShortcakeMiz Helen's KitchenSpicy Peaches
2 1/2 cups Peaches, sliced
1/2 cup Peach Juice from the Peaches or 1/2 cup of water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper (optional)
3 tablespoon Corn Starch mixed with 3/4 cup water
Peel the peaches and slice them. Place the peaches in a medium sauce pan with the liquid. Add the sugar and all the spices and mix well. Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring the mixture. When the mixture come's to a boil pour the mixed Corn Starch into the peach mixture and remove from the heat, stir the mixture until it is thick. This can be served hot or cold. Can be used for Shortcake, on top of Ice Cream or as a fruit compote.

ShortcakeMiz Helen's Kitchen
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup milk
1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder,and salt
With a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour mix until the mix resembles coarse meal.
Add milk and mix until dough holds together, adding more milk if needed
Turn the soft dough onto a floured surface and knead gently 8 to 10 times. Pat it out about 3/4 inch thick and cut into rounds
Place on a greased baking sheet
Combine the egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush the top then sprinkle with sugar
Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 425 degrees
Split the Shortcake and serve warm with fruit

Spicy Peaches Mixed

I Use Real Butter

This Dough Is Light and Fluffy

Split The Shortcake and Add The Peaches

Sure Hope You Enjoy This Spicy Peach Shortcake!

I sure am glad that you stopped by today to have some Spicy Peach Shortcake. Your visits are always important to me so come back soon!

Monday, April 16, 2012

It is already time for the The Secret Recipe Club, time goes by so fast when we are having fun. It has been fun to be a part of this monthly event. I always look forward to receiving my assignment to find out who I will meet that month and get to pick out one of their recipes to make. This month I was excited to have Angela's Kitchen as my assignment. Angela has a great blog that is Gluten and Dairy Free, she says "because everyone deserves a cookie", and I sure agree. Although she has many great recipes I choose one that will really stretch the dollars and is very tasty.

Black Bean Salsa Chicken

Slow Cooker Black Bean Salsa Chicken

Servings:18

Angela at Angela's Kitchen

Prepared In Miz Helen's Kitchen

4 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs, chopped

45 ounces canned black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups frozen corn

4 cups gluten free salsa

2 cups chopped onions

2 cups chopped green pepper

1 1/2 cups chopped red pepper

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

9 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper, to taste

Divide ingredients into 4 freezer bags, remove as much air as possible, label, and freeze.

To Serve:

Put in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Good served over cooked rice and dipped into with tortilla chips or rolled in Gluten free tortillas. Also good over baked potatoes or baked sweet potatoes.

This is a great recipe that you can do so many different things with. I did add more seasons because we like it spicy. I put one bag in the freezer and cooked the remainder, then I took part of that and made a great Casserole.

I sure am happy that you stopped by to visit with us today and hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did. If you would like to be a part of The Secret Recipe Club Link just go to the link and check it out. Hope you have a great day and come back to see us real soon!

Friday, April 13, 2012

We are so excited, we finally have all of our row crops planted in our garden. We are so thankful that we have had plentiful rains this spring, but it delayed some of our planting. We have had so much fun just playing in the dirt, but now it's time for a little break so come back to The Garden Gate Patio and we will take a look at the garden and have a nice refreshing iced tea with these nice hot blueberry muffins I just made. We will go over the menu for next week and pick you some fresh green onions to take with you.

I am so glad that you stopped by to visit today, I always look forward to your visits. Now don't forget your fresh green onions from the garden and have a safe trip back to the city. Come back to see us real soon!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Welcome to Full Plate Thursday, I hope all of you had a great week end of Celebration. Did you notice all the beautiful flowers as you were coming in the gate today. Spring is surely all around us and the weather has been beautiful. I just love seasonal food's and am looking forward to see what you have brought for the party today so lets get started, I'm hungry how about you? Thank you so much for coming today your visit is always so special to me and hope you will come back real soon!

If You Helped To Fill My Plate Last Week Please Take The Red Plate Home

The Code Is On The Side Bar

Full Plate Thursday Background Story

When
we were young and just
starting out in life sometimes we did not have a
lot of money. Most of our friends were
having to stretch the dollars
at the end of the month just like us. My
girlfriends and I decided that we
would pool our food for some of the
evening meals right before payday...
the last week of the month. I have some
of the fondest memories from those
days. We would all bring our food
together and we had some great food and
great fellowship. We would get the
food on the table and everything ready,
someone would bless the food and
then the hostess would say "come fill your
plate".
I have just a few suggestions before you leave your dish and fill your plate.

Link directly to YOUR RECIPE and not to your web page.

Scroll down to the button that says "click here to enter"

You
will be asked to give your
URL ( which will be your direct link to your
post), the name of your recipe, and
your email which we will not be able to
see.

Then you will be asked to select a thumbnail from your post that will be uploaded to your entry.

Please include a link back to Full Plate Thursday, somewhere on your post. We will give you a gentle reminder if you forget...

Please leave me a comment before you leave the page and let me know that you are here, I want to be a good hostess.

Don't
forget to visit with all
the others, after all that is part of the
fellowship that makes it so much fun,
in addition to all the good food of
course...

We are very excited to start this garden season off with a larger Compost Bin that will serve the needs of our entire property and maybe even sell or give away Compost to our family and friends.

Meet Shreck

Leonard Putting The Finishing Touches On Our

Garden Compost Bin "Shreck"

This is a double compartment bin that sits on a stand and it is very easy to access. Using both sides of the bin will enable us to put in up to 18 bushels of raw material. We just give it a couple of turns a day with the easy turning handle and we have compost ready to go in two weeks. It is awesome!

Miz Helen

Cookbook Author Recipe Developer Organic Gardner

Welcome to my Country Cottage, come on in and make yourself at home, stay and have a cup of tea. We will be sharing, Miz Helen's Kitchen where we have simple family friendly, meal plans, and recipes. Other features include, The Garden Gate, Quiet Time, Day Trips and Max Time. The blog is the home of Full Plate Thursday and The Texas Star Chili Cook-Off. Enjoy your time here, leave me a note I love hearing from you!

Max A Resident At The Cottage

All posts on this blog are original content and may not be copied or paraphrased. You may use one photo with a brief description and a link back to my blog for roundups and collections. A comment on the post or an email is appreciated when using my photos.This blog was created for entertainment purposes only. Read my full disclosure here